All the following are legal downloads offered by artists, either through their own websites, or through various music sites aiming to introduce new artists, bands and labels. If you like any of the the songs, find out a bit more about the artists and think about buying their CDs. Songs are arranged alphabetically by artist.

right click, save as please, except where noted otherwise

A

Neighbourhood #3(Power Out) - The Arcade Fire
I still love this album. I saw the video for this song this morning, and thought I'd just post it again. High energy with a twist in the music and instrumentation.

Wake Up - The Arcade Fire
Kick-ass rocking song with a hint of pop, and so catchy.

Burn Baby Burn - Ash
Bitter words wrapped in an infectious rock song.

B

Something to Talk About - Badly Drawn Boy (click on link)
Lovely sweet song well used in the soundtrack for About a Boy.

I'll Be Your Friend - Bright Eyes
Oddly jolly, with lovely lyrics (and an equally sweet video).

Landlocked Blues - Bright Eyes
This song just killed me. like old-school alt-country Ryan Adams - the lilting counter melody, the force of his belief and thoughts about the futility of war. Awesome.

C

If You Knew - Neko Case
alt-country in the longing, slightly bitter lyrics and the soaring voice

D

President of What - Death Cab for Cutie
So I'm finding it hard to leave my disaffected teen years behind. Ben Gibbard does too. Slightly bitter yet so catchy.

Soul Meets Body - Death Cab for Cutie
Sweet, catchy rock with great rhythm and hooks.

Northern Sky - Nick Drake
Sweet and calm, music to dream and imagine to.

E

Bus Stop Boxer - The Eels (click on link)
Hauntingly beautiful live with strings version of this song, about a kid with a very hard life

Newborn - Elbow
Dreamy, slow-build and gentle.

F

G

H

Everyone Knows Everyone - the Helio Sequence
Breezy, cool and very catchy indie rock.

Goodnight Goodnight - Hot Hot Heat (click on link)
Short, upbeat rock song.

I

J

K

I Predict A Riot - Kaiser Chiefs
Driven, fun rock of the best kind.

L

Much Finer (Flaxdatass remix) - Le Tigre
A more electronic sounding remix of a great song.

Never Never - The Libertines (click on link)
Choppy, bright and infectiously cool.

What Would You Do? - The Living End
A minute and a half of energetic song from one of Australia's best punk bands. The album's more of a grower, but this is a great opening track, fast and fun.

Monkey - Low
From the very beginning, there's a sense of some ominous happening, and somehow it involves a monkey. Good atmospheric indie-rock.

M

Baby C'mon - Stephen Malkmus
Swaggering pop-rock that's endearingly catchy and simple.

End of the Road - Me First and the Gimme Gimmes
Very fun, punked up version of the classic Boyz II Men song, with a Californian surfer vibe.

N

Miracle Drug - A.C. Newman
Bouncy tune with oddly troubling lyrics, a classic AC Newman match.

O

P

Such Great Heights - the Postal Service
Layers of sounds and music to make a lovely song.

Q

R

No Suprises (live) - Radiohead
If you are not a Radiohead fan, why not? This song still has the power to make me sigh at its quiet weary beauty.

Seventeen Years - Ratatat
Interesting mash of rap and just pure synth melody and beat.

S

Know Your Onion - The Shins
Cute indie pop, sunny and catchy.

Heroes - Jill Sobule
Funny and cynical and a great pop song.

Memory Lane - Elliot Smith
One of my current favourites, an oddly upbeat Elliot Smith song with the trademark melodies.

Teenage Kicks - Snow Patrol
Acoustic cover, angsty but stripped back guitar rock.

Communist Love Song - Soltero
How mad is a song that has the lyric "I will be your Berlin Wall, and I will never fall."?

The Way We Get By - Spoon
Very cool and funky pop-punk from a Texas trio.

I Turn My Camera On - Spoon
More jerky pop-punk, catchy and cool.

The Man of Metropolis Steals Our Hearts - Sufjan Stevens
The almost punk intro gives way to some beautifully melodic folk-rock. The album is full of lovely soft gems like this.

Juicebox - The Strokes
From its fast-paced, mildly ominous starting guitar riff to the abrupt end, this is classic Strokes.

T

Me and Mia - Ted Leo and the Pharmacists (click on link)
Fun indie rock, and a great band name. =)

The High Party - Ted Leo and the Pharmacists
"When you're too drunk to turn the lights out, and too tired to drink more." Manic and sad.

Dreams - TV on the Radio
Progressive rock, layers of sounds and beats with a falsetto song and growled vocals building up into this great crunchy song.

U

V

Get Free - the Vines
Shambolic and unapologetically loud and dumb. Rock doesn't get better than this.

W

Fuel for Fire - M.Ward
Mellow guitar music ala Jack Johnson but with a darker edge, and his voice is smokier, more akin to Rufus Wainwright

Dope Nose - Weezer (click on link)
Fun, disposable, crunchy rock.

Diamonds From Sierra Leone - Kanye West
Seamless blend of the James Bond theme and a confession of/diatribe against the lure of bling in hip hop. A little didactic but he's so damn catchy.

Jolene - the White Stripes
Creepy and angsty cover of the Dolly Parton song.

I'm the Man Who Loves You - Wilco
Great live version of a cheery love song with the familiar cacophony as fade-out.

Striptease - Hawksley Workman (click on link)
Slightly naughty, very catchy song, makes you want to move and dance

X

Y

Gold Lion - The Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Swaggering rock that works with Karen O's siren-like voice.

Maps - The Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Dripping with love and longing.

Z